Anybody have any experience with these? My local shop has one NIB for $449. I think it would make an excellent companion rifle to my recently acquired Ruger Blackhawk 45. I wonder if it would handle DoubleTap +P rounds..?

I had a Thunderbolt a nice looking rifle but fast pumping would cause a round to fall under the lifter, It was very stiff to pump even after a trip to the gunsmith .and don't try to shoot 45Colt +P rounds action not strong .AWA was going to make a .44mag Lighting rife as a special order around $1,000 well worth the money all parts first class.

I had some early issues with light firing pin strikes using CCI #34 primers but after switching primers it has been fine. I changed the sights to some I could see. I have not experienced the jams as mentioned here, but I don't try to run it like a semi-auto either. Nice slim rifle with a large magazine and a big chunk of lead. I think I paid around $400 several years ago.

I have a stainless Thunderbolt that I bought in 2007, It is back in the Taurus repair center as the bolt is actually deflected by the hammer in the full cocked position. This creates a very stiff forward motion on the pump. It also loosens the top cover after several shots.

I have a taurus thunderbolt and it is a blast to shoot, relatively quiet and no kick. Mine had the barrel shortened to 20" when I bought it. I don't have any feeding issues, but my wife does. She does not pump it fast enough. Most of our shooting are with light loads, 250 hard cast. My wife and I shoot it a lot. I have a flywheel hanging on chains behind the house which gets used often. It will not handle +P loads, but I have worked up a deer load. 300gr JSP behind 23.7 grains of RL7 for about 1130 fps. RL7 is slow compared to the normal pistol powders so the presure dosen't peak so fast. I replaced the rear buckhorn sight with a peep sight from http://www.skinnersights.com/. A significant improvement. I sometimes carry it on deer drive hunts.

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